Former USTRs United in Support for Trade Deals That Expand Market Access

Michael Froman, USTR from 2013 to 2017 and current president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said that he and the other speakers are united in that "every single one of us, when we were USTR, when we were negotiating trade agreements, had front of mind that we were trying to open other markets for the benefit of American workers and farmers and ranchers and small businesses, service providers and the like. That was our motivation, whatever the critics say about us."

He called the May 12 event, hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "remarkable" due to the level of "bipartisan representation" from trade experts. While critical of Trump's trade policy for having "all the focus [being] on imports," Froman said that Trump is "right" that there are non-trade barriers affecting American producers and described previous domestic policy that failed to address the negative effects of trade as "abject failure" by both Democratic and Republican leadership.

Former Sen. Robert Portman, R-Ohio, who was USTR from 2005 to 2006, agreed that the focus of trade policy needs to be on opening markets for exports and said that free trade agreements, now spurned by the Republican Party, are the best way to do this. He said that the focus has become "putting the leverage in place with regard to these higher tariffs," which is appropriate for China, but not for allies. He expressed bemusement at the reversed roles of Democrats and Republicans on trade policy, saying "we've kind of turned upside down."

Charlene Barshefsky, USTR from 1997 to 2001, said that in its trade conflict with China, the U.S. has come to resemble China: "Both are coercive powers, both bully, both wanting a different world order. They're using the same tactics, but moving in opposite directions." She warned however, that China is more prepared for this fight because of its ability to plan decades in the future. Froman agreed, saying that China was better able to establish a statewide consensus "around industrial policy and the capacity to mobilize state resources behind one sector."

Portman suggested that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were a misuse of executive authority, saying "I think, frankly, that might be the case, where IEEPA has been misused," but that broadly, Congress has delegated its authority on trade measures "very generously." Barshefsky was less committal, saying that it was a "toss-up" whether the courts would read it as unconstrained authority because the statute was vague and not "very well written."

Ronald Kirk, USTR from 2009 to 2013, called himself the "designated Democrat" of the group and condemned Trump's trade policy for "all the pain and confusion" it has caused, but said that it had created an opportunity "for a different conversation about how a smart trade policy" could expand market access in foreign countries. The current administration isn't taking advantage of that opportunity and instead forging trade deals in the dark, without "input from the House and the Senate."

Portman said that these practices by the Trump administration are blurring the line "between these agreements that tend to be bilateral, and a trade agreement." Trade agreements were more beneficial than the deals the Trump administration is negotiating because they provide "more export markets."

Susan Schwab, USTR from 2006 to 2009, did give the Trump administration credit for using the "private sector advisory committee process for consulting as they're going through these negotiations," which she said is "a bridge between the executive and legislative branches."

Kirk was unconvinced: "I’m having a hard time giving them credit." He said that effort was akin to "learning from the second kick of the mule." Froman concurred, saying that it was a case of "the arsonist calling the fire department."